Improvement in propelling apparatus



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l Mmm JUL l51870 EDWIN fr. ticos-:or nEMoPoLIs, ALABAMA.

f 13mm Pawn: No. 'loaosacaa'my 5,1370.A

IMPROVBMENT IN APRQPELIIING' APPARATUS.

The'Scnedule referred to in these Letters Patent and' making pan o` memarne.

To all whom it may concern v Be it known that T, EDWIN '.l. LIGON, ofDemopv olis, in the county of Marengo and State of Alabama,

have invented a new and useful Improvement in Propeiling Vessels; and 'Ido hereby decla-re' that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription ofthe same, reference being had to-the accompanying drawing,making a part. oi' this specification, in which-- Figure l is a planview of' a vessel, with'horizontal sections of the helical-pumps, anddotted lines showing the air-chainber;

Figure 2 isa side elevation; and

Figure 3, a transverse vertical section in the line x :'r, iig. l.

This invention is carried 'out' by discharging currents of air, or airand water, into a chamber formed between a vessels bottoni and the.water overwhich she is moving I The object sought to be effected bythis/arrangement is to diminish friction, render the vessel increbuoyant than she would otherwise befand directly assist in herpropulsion.

I n the drawing- A is a sea-going vessel, about whose construction thereis nothing peculiar, except that lengthwise of her underside'is made,amidships, an openichainber, A', extending nearly from thc siem'quite-to thc stern, and without bottoni or rear end. y

B Bare Wirtzs helical or spiral pumps, vertically placed at theextremities` of a shaft running transversely of the ship, said pumpsserving'instead oi' pad ille-wheels, the shaft heilig rotated by auengine. l

The helical-pumps, after the fashion of this ma.-

chine, on revolving rapidly, takev in air and water at their outer ends,and discharge the same from 'their inner ends into pipes, G C,extending/horizontally along the ships side, outside the pumps; saidpipes running forward, and bei f "urved downward and backward, so as toenter tne-cnamber A at its front end g said pipes also extending aft thehelical-pumps, and terminating at any required point outside.the'airchamber A.

' Valves are plaedlin the pipes, both forward Iand aft,

by which the direction ofthe mingled currents of aiu and water-receivedbythe pipes from the helical-pumps is controlled, 1f the rear valves 'beclosed, these currents are directed into the chamber A', where they forma stratum of air between the bottom of t-hevessel and the water beneath,which, it seems reasonableto suppose, diminishes the friction attendantupon the progress ofthe vessel. It alsoincreases the buoyancy of theship.

It is -a -,well-known fact that, whensteamers are under rapidheadway,vthey show a tendency to bury themselves in the watenand this Iaccount for on the supposition `that their motion creates apaxtialvacnum Whatever be the cause, the diiiiculty beneath V them.isremcdied by thestratum of air in the chamber` A.

The air and water currents discharged from the pipes C also serve, byreaction, Io assist in' the propulsion of the vessel. If the forward'valves be closed, the contents of the pipes'G are discharged rearward,and simply perform the last-mentioned function of aiding in propulsion.

Having thus described my invention,

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is v l Avessel, provided with a chamber in her bottom, andl vwith pipes leadingthereinto, and with helical-pumps,

all combined and operating as described, for the -purpose of forming anair stratum iu the chamber, and discharging currents of air, ori air andwater, which may aid in the propulsion of the ship.

' `Witnesses:

''lHos J. Fosrna, D. B. MeCAR'rY.

fr. LI'GN.

